O’Malley Makes Case For Gas Tax Proposal

The way Governor Martin O’Malley views his controversial sales tax on gasoline proposal is that you can either pay now- or pay later, but you are going to have to pay. The Governor told Senate and House committees this week that failing to enact his gas tax proposal could mean additional costs to the state down the road. O'Malley is asking lawmakers to sign off on his proposal to apply a 6 percent sales tax to gasoline. The governor acknowledged that this would be a difficult vote, especially as gas prices are over $4-a-gallon in some parts of Maryland. The plan would increase the tax by 2 percent annually and be put on hold should gas prices spike more than 15 percent in a given year. O'Malley said that without the tax, which is projected to generate about $613 million annually, critical transportation projects cannot be funded…